Archive for category: Children

Information and stories addressing children.

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Double Burden of Child Malnutrition in Indonesia

Child Malnutrition in IndonesiaIndonesian children suffered from the double burden of malnutrition in Indonesia even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The double burden of malnutrition refers to having both overnutrition and undernutrition simultaneously. The “minimum dietary diversity” of Indonesian children ages 12 to 23 months rapidly decreased from 81% in 2018 to 55% in 2022. The double burden of child malnutrition in Indonesia directly impacts a child’s physical and mental development and puts children at high risk of illnesses in the future. Diverse nutrient intake is a crucial aspect of a child’s development, therefore, children in Indonesia need immediate assistance.

Effects of COVID-19 on Undernutrition in Indonesia

The rapid spread of COVID-19 impacted the economic stability of households as businesses shut down and the unemployment rate increased. The socio-economic crisis that households faced at the onset of the pandemic reduced parents’ ability to provide adequate nutritious meals for their children. A household’s income status is directly related to a child’s nutrient intake.

A survey of 2,400 Indonesian households between December 2020 and January 2021 revealed that “at least one member of every two households” faced a job loss. In March 2022, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin reported that 25% of Indonesian children have endured stunting and 10% of Indonesian children suffers malnourishment. Furthermore, an estimated 45% of households could not feed their children nutritious foods, such as fish, meat and fruit, and had to resort to smaller portions of food, increasing the susceptibility to undernutrition.

Overweight and Obesity Rate in Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic also increased the number of overweight and obese children in Indonesia. Historically, the childhood obesity rate in Indonesia has been on the rise. Even before the pandemic, according to the 2018 national Basic Health Research Survey (RISKESDAS), about 20% of primary school-aged children and 14% of Indonesian adolescents are obese or overweight.

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced access to healthy food for children. Rather, many households opted for cheaper processed foods, which are generally unhealthy, high in fat, sugar, salt and lack nutrients. Besides the unhealthy food intake, restricted physical activities because of the social distancing put children at a higher risk of becoming overweight. The health risks of being overweight and obese are as severe as undernutrition as these conditions increase the risk of developing life-threatening non-communicable diseases like heart diseases and diabetes.

Response to Malnutrition in Indonesia

In 2022, UNICEF found that more than 75% of Indonesia’s health offices moved their budgets for nutrition services to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift of budgetary focus to addressing the pandemic meant that the government had to divert resources and funding for child nutrition programs.

To strengthen food security and decrease child wasting and stunting by 14% before the onset of 2024, UNICEF provides “technical assistance to the Government of Indonesia.” National efforts to address the prevalence of stunting have been visible since 2020 under the National Mid-Term Development Plan 2020-2024.

In 2015, Indonesia joined the SUN Business Network (SBN), “the world’s leading private sector initiative focused on nutrition.” Within this network, the private sector mobilizes to achieve national nutrition goals “through education and fortified food products.” SBN Indonesia commits to three objectives:  “nutrition for the first 1,000 days and adolescence; providing education about, and access to, balanced nutrition; and sanitation, health and hygiene.”

Also, Indonesia is one of the 61 members represented in the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, which started in 2010 as a collaborative effort by countries to end malnutrition in all its forms.

Fighting the double burden of child malnutrition in Indonesia has been a perennial issue for the nation. In 2022, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore noted the importance of addressing child undernutrition, “Poor nutrition intake in the first two years of life can irreversibly harm children’s rapidly growing bodies and brains.”

With both national and international efforts, the double burden of child malnutrition in Indonesia can improve.

– Youngwook Chun
Photo: Flickr

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Nollywood Film “The Oratory” Addresses Poverty

The Oratory
The Nigerian film industry, also known as Nollywood, is the second-largest film industry globally as of 2015, producing more than 1,000 films annually. The Nollywood Factory film “The Oratory,” in collaboration with the Salesians of Don Bosco, aims to raise awareness about the growing number of homeless children in Nigeria and inspire initiatives to bring about change.

The Film’s Mission

The Nollywood film “The Oratory” premiered on November 20, 2021, at the Filmhouse Cinemas in Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria with a little over 15 million people residing within the 452 square miles as of 2022. The movie follows an American-born priest who travels to Lagos where he tries to save homeless children trapped in a criminal network in the city. This is “the first Catholic movie from Nigeria” to highlight a topic like this.

The film’s executive producer, Dr. Cyril Odia, is a Nigerian Salesian priest who believes presenting these problems in the form of a movie will help raise awareness and garner more support. “The attempt of this movie is to call for action. As Salesians, we believe in faith in action. If we don’t multiply that effect and get more people to come on board, we can foresee that there is going to be a disaster.” The film producers also cast local children experiencing poverty and living in slums in an attempt to provide them with opportunities and hope to transform their lives.

Nigeria’s Street Children

With more than 250 ethnic groups and more than 500 languages spoken, Lagos is a cultural hub in West Africa. However, the city also struggles with major economic issues, and according to the World Bank, as of 2022, about four in 10 Nigerians live below the national poverty threshold. Tragically, children account for many impoverished persons as 42% of Nigeria’s population is younger than 15, says a 2022 article by The Conversation.

Homeless children in Nigeria are also known as “street children.” These children are pushed to live on the streets due to factors such as “poverty, neglect, abuse [and] domestic violence.” For survival, these children engage in child labor. Some steal and beg while others abuse substances. Children in these conditions join groups “for personal protection against gangs and law enforcement officials.” Unfortunately, the number of “street children” is rising despite calls for the Lagos State Department to invest in more housing accommodations and educational campaigns to raise awareness.

How Salesians Help Children in Nigeria

Salesians are followers of the Roman Catholic Church who dedicate their lives to helping underprivileged youth. This commitment is visible in Nigeria where Salesian missionaries have built schools and orphanages around the country and implemented efforts toward securing access to clean water and health services, among other efforts.

Responses From the World

On September 10, 2021, “The Oratory” premiered in Dublin to critics who praised the film and audiences who gave it a standing ovation. After watching the movie, Denise Onoise, a child protection specialist at the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), said the “movie aligns with the objectives of [UNICEF].” Onoise said that “[a]t UNICEF, we do partnerships like these even with ministries and government agencies. This is particularly interesting for us due to the work we had done in the past six years.”

In 2019, UNICEF collaborated with Salesians to open a juvenile justice center in a Salesian Immaculate Shelter in Togo to support the rehabilitation of minors who contravened the law. Foyer Don Bosco, a home in Benin that houses children victims of abandonment and abuse, released in a report on June 28, 2022, that it had received funding for clothing, food and other essential items from Salesian Missions.

A year after its release, the Nollywood film “The Oratory” continues to inspire the people of Lagos to fight harder for children living in poverty, and the Salesian effort to help only grows stronger.

– Yashavi Upasani
Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Child Poverty in Laos

Child Poverty in LaosLocated in the center of South-East Asia, Laos or Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.  Nearly 23% of the total population of 7.2 million people in Laos are below the poverty line.  More than half of the population in Laos are under the age of 18 and they are severely impacted by poverty.  Besides the economic growth, the multidimensional deprivation in children is highly associated with the low levels of infrastructure and the heavy reliance on agricultural activities.  The children in poverty in Laos are impacted in various sectors such as nutrition, child labor and education. It’s important to be addressing child poverty in Laos and the numerous struggles that spawn from it.

Overview of Child Poverty in Laos

In Save the Children’s 2021 Global Childhood Report, Laos was ranked 143 of 186 countries on an index reflecting countries’ average levels of performance based on eight indicators related to child health, education, labor, marriage, childbirth and violence. According to the statistics from UNICEF in 2018, only 12% of children experience no deprivation while the other remaining children under 18 years are suffering from at least two deprivations in the areas of nutrition, health and education.

Food Insecurity

Widespread child malnutrition and food insecurity remain as persistent problems in Laos.  The World Food Program and Lao government ranked Laos 87th out of 177 countries on the 2019 Global Hunger Index.

In terms of food security, the share of the household experiencing severe food insecurity rose to 23% in May 2022.

Child Labor and Education

The report from Save the Children estimated that 28.2% of children aged five to 17 were involved in labor from 2015 to 2020

In 2021, Prime Minister Phankham cited that a low level of development in Laos correlates with the parents’ reliance on their children to help out with finances at home rather than getting an education. The main problem of early involvement in child labor leads to the lack of educational opportunities.  To elaborate, the 2019 Southeast Asia assessment of learning outcomes showed that fifth-grade students are not mastering the minimum proficiency level for the grade in terms of reading, writing and math skills.

Poverty in Laos is forcing children to drop out of school and participate in child labor to help their families.   In 2021, approximately 28% of children are engaged in child labor, instead of learning according to the Save The Children report. Although the Laos Law prohibits child employment under 14, numerous children are engaged in various forms of labor.

Because of the devastating poverty situation, most of the parents in Laos do not see the importance of education and instead encourage their children to participate in physical labor to amend their financial struggle.  According to an official from the Education Department in Sekong province, students aged 10 to 12 from rural areas often quit school or only attend classes two or three days a week. The lack of infrastructure in the education sector and low government spending has aggravated the situation of the children in poverty in Laos for accessing education.

The Impact of COVID-19

Since 2021, the impact of the pandemic adversely impacted the children’s education opportunities in Laos.  Approximately 42% of children stopped attending schools temporarily or permanently after many households faced financial collapse because of the pandemic.

Efforts to address Child Poverty in Laos

The national poverty rate in Laos has continuously dropped with annual GDP growth of 7.3%.  According to the statistics from the World Bank, between 1993 and 2019, the poverty rate fell from 46% to 18%. However, the poverty rate in minority ethnic remained relatively high, with the rate of 34.6%.  This disproportionate poverty rate in minority ethnic groups was ten times higher than among households headed by those who have completed secondary education.

To help improve the education status, the World Bank and the government launched a $47 million national project aimed at improving pre-school and primary education performance in September 2021

USAID also took the progressive approach to child education in Laos in 2022, DA Coleman announced a new $2.6 million USAID grant to support childhood and primary education.

To enhance the nutrition security in Laos, the government of Laos jointly partnered with WFP’s Country Director to launch WFP’s new Country Strategic Plan 2022-2026 in February 2022.  This strategic plan is centered on expanding and strengthening the Government’s school meals program, working to enhance community resilience and ensure food security.

A Look Ahead

By implementing long-term commitments and strategies both nationally and internationally, the prospect of eliminating child poverty in Laos is positive.

–Youngwook Chun
Photo: Flickr

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USAID’s Response to the Record-Breaking Drought in Africa 

Drought in AfricaThe Horn of Africa is suffering from its worst drought in 40 years, a crisis that has killed millions of livestock and plunged millions of people into food insecurity. In response to this historic drought in Africa, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged almost $1.3 billion in assistance to the regions hardest hit by the drought.

A Record-Breaking Drought

The past four rainy seasons in the Horn of Africa—a region which includes Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya—have seen below-average rainfall. The most recent rainy season, from March to May 2022, was the area’s driest rainy season in 70 years. The U.N. expects that the upcoming rainy season from October to December 2022 will also be dry.

This unprecedented drought has had dire consequences for those living in the Horn of Africa:

  • As of July 2022, the U.N. estimated that 18.6 million people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are facing food insecurity due to the drought and this figure could rise to 20 million by September.
  • The International Rescue Committee warns that 3 million people are at risk of starving to death in the region.
  • 7.1 million children are acutely malnourished, with 2.1 million children falling in the category of acutely malnourished.
  • More than 11.6 million people lack access to sufficient water for drinking, cooking and cleaning.
  • An estimated 7 million livestock have died and an additional at 22 million are at risk of dying due to the drought.

Immediate Impacts of the Drought

In addition to the immediate impacts on food and water insecurity, the Horn of Africa’s drought has impacted the lives of those living there in more indirect ways. With more than 1.1 million people displaced as a consequence of the drought and women and girls traveling as much as three times as long as they did before to find water, the Horn of Africa has seen an increase in gender-based violence and school drop-out rates.

Approximately 15 million children in the region are now out of school and an additional 3.32 million children across the region are at risk of dropping out because of the drought. The drought has also had negative impacts on hygiene practices. As drinking water has become scarcer, people have started to ration their water, using more water for drinking and cooking and less for hygiene. Consequently, the drought has put people at a higher risk for infection and water-borne diseases.

While the drought on its own has had disastrous effects, Russia’s war on Ukraine has compounded the crisis the Horn of Africa is experiencing. Regionally, 84% of wheat is imported, and 90% of that imported wheat comes from Russia and Ukraine. Due to the combined effects of smaller harvests and war-induced inflation, the cost of food has risen 66% in Ethiopia and 36% in Somalia.

The United States Offers Help

In July 2022, USAID announced an additional $1.18 billion in aid for countries hardest hit by this historic drought. This brings the total U.S. assistance for the crisis up to $1.86 billion in 2022 alone — the greatest contribution of any single country.

The most recent round of funding will go towards measures that will provide immediate assistance to those suffering the consequences of the drought as well as efforts to help the Horn of Africa build resistance against potential future droughts. Funding will support the delivery of emergency food supplies including a grain called shogun, split peas and vegetable oil. To help the high number of children suffering from malnutrition as a result of the drought, USAID will help screen communities for malnutrition in children and provide nutritional supplements for those found to be most at risk.

USAID also plans to use a portion of the funds to help farmers by providing medical services and food to animals as well as working with agricultural communities to develop more drought-resistant farming techniques. Addressing some of the secondary consequences of the drought, USAID will also direct funds toward disease prevention and gender-based violence reduction efforts.

A Look Ahead

While this unprecedented drought has been devastating for the Horn of Africa, the U.N. estimated in July that an additional $1.8 billion in aid was required to address the crisis. The recent announcement by USAID in July covers almost two-thirds of this requirement and has the potential to help the millions who have suffered the dire consequences of the drought in Africa.

– Anna Inghram
Photo: Flickr

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Rising Youth Unemployment in China

Youth Unemployment in ChinaAt the end of June 2022, statistics showed that youth unemployment in China was rising significantly to an unprecedented level of 19.3%. This is partly due to the slow growth (only 0.4%) of the Chinese economy in the second quarter of this year. Such a worrying scene could require powerful solutions.

Reasons Behind Rising Youth Unemployment in China

Nearly one in five young men is unemployed in China, a country with the second largest economy in the world. One of the greatest contributors to youth unemployment in China was the pandemic and the government’s relative lockdown policies. As the Chinese government made tight policies to control the number and spread of COVID-19 cases, major cities including Shanghai experienced large-scale lockdowns, affecting many economic activities.

For example, the retail sales in China have decreased considerably by 11.1%, which was its highest contraction value since March 2020, according to the BBC. An executive at Huawei, Richard Yu, has expressed his worry that if the lockdown persisted, the whole “technology, industrial and automobile supply chains” would come to a full shutdown. The poor performance of the economy in the pandemic made unemployment become more widespread.

Also, due to the Chinese government’s policies since 2021, most extracurricular tutoring was banned in China to lower pressure and discourage competition among Chinese students. However, as many private tutoring institutions had to shut down, teachers lost their source of income.

Chinese Government’s Effort to Solve the Problem

Fortunately, youth employment in China is not at a dead end. Circumstances can get better for those young people who are desperately seeking jobs.

The Chinese government was aware of this problem and already implemented some measures. On the one hand, the government made it compulsory for state-owned businesses and institutions to create new jobs for young graduates from higher education. On the other hand, universities are opening up temporary positions for their own graduates as emergency support, according to NZZ.

The Future

Although the unemployment figure was high in June, the Chinese labor market has already started to revive slowly since May. It may take some time for the reviving effect to lower the youth unemployment rate. As the government started to focus on tackling this problem for the younger generation, it started to provide subsidies and guaranteed loans for small businesses to help them overcome the financial difficulties that came with the pandemic lockdowns.

It was clear that the strict lockdown policies in China limited economic performance instantly. However, the economy is recovering steadily since the end of the second quarter of 2022. Consumer expenditures, including the key Chinese industry—vehicles, have experienced an impressive boost since June. In fact, economists from other countries still give high expectations for China’s future economic growth.

Hopefully, a more thriving economy could benefit the job market and ease the pressing problem of youth unemployment in China very soon.

– Ella Li
Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Children’s Mental Health in Lebanon

Children’s Mental Health in Lebanon
The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the ongoing civil unrest and the economic crisis in Lebanon have negatively impacted children’s mental health in Lebanon. Amid several crises, Lebanon is noting higher rates of mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, among the nation’s children.

Overview of Children’s Health in Lebanon

A 2022 Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents in Lebanon Study (PALS) study found that 32.7% out of 1,517 children and adolescents in Lebanon screened positive for at least one psychiatric disorder. However, only 5% of these children sought professional mental health help.

The high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in Lebanese children and adolescents alerted the need for adequate mental health prevention programs. In 2022, approximately one in five aged between 15-24 reported that they have depression.

Political Crisis in Lebanon

On October 17, 2019, Lebanese launched mass anti-government protests in a response to new tax measures and corruption. During the protests, businesses and banks closed causing a financial crisis. These mass protests impacted the families in Lebanon financially, pulling many children out of private schools.

News Medical has found that education impacts the mental health outcome of children. In fact, “Higher levels of education have been associated with better mental health.” Low levels of education are linked to “a lack of sense of control and resilience,” which puts an individual at a higher risk of depression.

Economic Crisis in Lebanon

According to the World Bank, Lebanon is “facing one of the world’s worst economic and financial crises,” the United States Institute of Peace reported. According to the statistics in 2021 from the World Bank, Lebanon’s economy has decreased by 58.1% since 2019 and the national GDP declined by 10.5% in 2021.

In fact, Lebanon’s contraction was the largest contraction out of 193 countries. Besides the impact of the pandemic, the blast in the Port of Beirut aggravated the economic crisis in Lebanon. On August 4, 2020, the Port of Beirut exploded resulting in many casualties, injuries and massive destruction. The explosion at Beirut’s port killed at least 218 people and wounded 7,000 people.

Economic fallout in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion along with the COVID-19 has put the families and children in danger of poverty and food insecurity. In 2021, the World Food Program (WFP) reported that 6.7 million Lebanese and the entire Syrian refugee population of 1.5 million are living in severe poverty.

Looking at the correlation between the economic situation and the child’s mental health according to the research article published in Health Economics, children’s mental health outcomes worsen as the economy weakens.

Environmental factors such as food insecurity and poverty because of the economic meltdown had a direct impact on the well-being of Lebanese families leading to the poor mental state of children in Lebanon.

COVID-19 in Lebanon

In January 2021, due to a massive resurgence of new cases of COVID-19, the government ordered a strict lockdown. This caused many citizens to feel isolated and disconnected due to a lack of socialization and confinement within homes. It adversely impacted the mental health of citizens, who, as a result, struggled with stress, anxiety, depression and more.

Improving Mental Health in Lebanon

The United Nations in Lebanon worked in conjunction with the National Mental Health Programme in the Ministry of Public Health to create “a mental health and psychological support action plan as part of the national response to the COVID-19 outbreak.”

As part of the plan, the U.N. and its partners raised awareness of ways to manage stress and mental health by sharing psychosocial support kits for children in hospitals and providing remote community-based mental health support kits to 5,975 children and parents, UNICEF reported.

In 2020, UNICEF Representative Yukie Mokuo said that “50% of mental disorders start before the age of 14 and 75% by the mid-20s.” The U.N. also launched the campaign in 2020 under the name of “How Are you Doing in Corona Times?” targeting to raise awareness and identify mental health status specifically among the youth population, according to UNICEF.

The other environmental contributing factors that impact children’s mental health are under control by international efforts. In 2022, on March 23, USAID provided nearly $64 million in humanitarian assistance in a response to Lebanon’s economic detraction and food insecurity. The United States government has contributed nearly $510 million in assistance to Lebanon since October 2020.

Lebanon’s progressive approaches to raising awareness of children’s mental health with national efforts along with the help of international aid show positive prospect for the future of child mental health conditions. Considering the future of children’s mental health in Lebanon, the nation should prioritize implementing initiatives and adequate policies to promote positive mental health among children in Lebanon.

– Youngwook Chun
Photo: Unsplash

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Plumpy’Sup Fights Malnutrition in Developing Countries

Plumpy’Sup Fights Malnutrition
Around 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age are related to malnutrition and most of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, also known as developing countries. Seeking to counter this statistic is Plumpy’Sup, one of the latest innovations in nutritional science. Plumpy’Sup fights malnutrition through its one-per-day sachets that provide a convenient and accessible route to necessary nutrients.

Understanding Malnutrition

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in energy intake. While many think of malnutrition as solely relating to undernourishment, according to WHO, the term malnutrition refers to three different groups of conditions:

  • “Undernutrition, which includes wasting (low weight-for-height), stunting (low height-for-age) and underweight (low weight-for-age)”
  • “Micronutrient-related malnutrition, which includes micronutrient deficiencies or an excess of micronutrients”
  • “Overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases, which include heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers”

A Far-Reaching Threat

Since one or more forms of malnutrition impact every single country in the world, fighting malnutrition has become a global issue. In 2020, the WHO estimated that, globally, more than 149 million children under 5 suffered stunting, 45 million endured wasting and 38.9 million were overweight.

Links Between Poverty and Malnutrition

Another threat that malnutrition posed is its strong relationship to poverty. This concerning link between poverty and malnutrition is cyclical, as malnutrition reduces the population’s economic potential in order to induce poverty. In turn, poverty reinforces malnutrition by increasing the risk of food insecurity. This explains why areas with chronic poverty have higher malnutrition rates. Thus, although malnutrition reaches the entire world, those living in poverty face an even more significant burden.

The relationship between malnutrition and poverty particularly concerns children. Micronutrient deficiencies may result in adverse birth outcomes such as low birth weight babies. These babies have an increased risk of impaired health and educational performance. Such impaired health, including illness susceptibility, contributes to poverty due to increased health care costs.

Additionally, poor educational performance in malnourished children may result in less schooling. Since education is a known pathway out of poverty, such decreased education contributes to the cyclical nature of poverty.

The Formula for Success

Hope in the fight against malnutrition can be found in Plumpy’Sup, a Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food (RUSF) that Nutriset designed to treat moderate acute malnutrition in children older than six months. Plumpy’Sup fights malnutrition using a peanut formula that comes in one-per-day sachets that are ready to eat and that people can consume in small quantities to supplement a regular diet. The ingredients in the formula include iron, sodium, vitamin A, vitamin D and more.

Plumpy’Sup is a flexible product that can treat malnutrition in various contexts, according to Nutriset’s website. Plumpy’Sup typically fights malnutrition in emergencies but one can also use it at home or in nutritional programs. The lipid-based dietary supplement, which has a high vitamin and mineral content, could provide hungry families with an option for fighting malnutrition in areas without electricity or clean water.

Ultimately, as Plumpy’Sup fights malnutrition, it provides a glimmer of hope for feeding the malnourished and stopping the cycle of poverty. Despite the pervasiveness of malnutrition, innovative food products such as Plumpy’Sup could be the start of a new chapter in global food security.

– Sarah DiLuzio
Photo: Flickr

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Nobel Peace Prize Auctioned for Child Refugees in Ukraine

On the night of Monday, June 20, 2022, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov’s Nobel Peace Prize sold at auction for $103.5 million, all of which was donated to UNICEF to aid child refugees in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Refugee Crisis

As of July 2022, more than 5.6 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded across Europe as a result of the ongoing war, with 8.7 million recorded border crossings. With nearly half a million children in Ukraine, UNICEF worries about the effects of living in a war-torn area.

In response to the conflict, UNICEF has ramped up its humanitarian aid to the region. In a statement following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine M. Russell said, “heavy weapons fire along the line of contact has already damaged critical water infrastructure and education facilities in recent days. Unless the fighting subsides, tens of thousands of families could face displacement, dramatically escalating humanitarian needs.”

UNICEF’s response focuses on providing health, hygiene and emergency education supplies. It is also getting safe water to areas in conflict, assisting children separated from families and working to ensure there is help for children and families. It has additionally established a fund to assist child refugees in Ukraine.

Dmitry Muratov’s Nobel Peace Prize

Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his work toward journalistic freedom and safeguarding democracy. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Muratov founded a newspaper, the Novaya Gazeta. The newspaper advocated for freedom of press and expression in Russia.

The Novaya Gazeta is critical of Russian officials and does not shy away from exposing corruption within the Russian government. Six of the Gazeta’s journalists lost their lives for their journalistic work on Russian military operations.

Muratov is no stranger to taking on Russian imperialism and has used his place as editor-in-chief to be critical of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The Auction

According to NPR, Muratov conducted the auction through Heritage Auctions and opened bidding online on June 1, 2022, with all proceeds set to go to UNICEF’s Ukraine child refugee fund. In-person bidding occurred on Monday, June 20.

By Monday morning, the ending day of the auction, the online bid had only reached $550,000. The auction increased in increments initially. Then, suddenly, the highest bid jumped from $16.6 million to the winning $103.5 million from an anonymous caller, NPR reports.

This is blowing away the previous highest bid for a Nobel Prize of $4.76 million. In response to the results of the auction, Muratov stated in an interview with the Associated Press, “I was hoping that there was going to be an enormous amount of solidarity, but I was not expecting this to be such a huge amount.” All of the funds are already in UNICEF’s possession.

Muratov is a lifelong advocate for freedom and a critic of Russian expansionism. This auction is his latest act of generosity and advocacy, resulting in $103.5 million for child refugees in Ukraine.

– Eleanor Corbin
Photo: Wikicommons

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USAID Programs in Namibia

USAID Programs in NamibiaThe United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been working since the 1960s to provide aid to developing countries across the world. Since Namibia’s establishment as a free country in 1990, USAID programs in Nambia have focused on a wide range of developmental factors in the country.

The factors include prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, fundamental access to education, “community-based natural resource management”, “democracy and governance” and establishing employment opportunities and expanding on existing enterprises.

Energy Programs in Namibia

Electricity access is still lacking in parts of southern Africa. In 2020, The World Bank reported that only 56% of Namibians had access to electricity. Namibia is one of 11 nations in the Southern African Energy Program (SAEP), which was launched in 2017. Another country targeted by SAEP is Zambia. In 2021, Namibia imported 100 megawatts (MW) from Zambia according to NamPower, Namibia’s national electric utility provider.

Of note, renewable energy has been a focus of the SAEP, using existing resources from its parent organization USAID to fund a renewable energy feed-in-tariff program. The feed-in-tariff program provides individuals with means to renewable energy similar to solar panels. Excess or unused energy produced is sent to the national power grid and the individual is given a tariff or small sum for the unused energy. If an individual in the program needs more energy than they produced, they can get energy from the national grid.

Tuberculosis in Namibia

Tuberculosis (TB) is the fourth highest cause of death in Namibia. Around 1,500 people died from TB in 2020 according to the organization Stop TB.

Still, Namibia has had some recent success thanks to USAID treatment programs. New incidences of TB in Namibia were at the lowest rate in over a decade with approximately only 11,700 cases in 2020.  Additionally, treatment programs were largely successful; USAID reports an 87% success rate in new TB cases in 2020. A course of several antibiotics is the routine treatment for TB.

TB ties into a greater health problem in Namibia, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). According to USAID, 61% of people in Namibia with TB are also HIV positive. In 2020, 1,989 Namibians were diagnosed with both HIV and TB.

Combating HIV in Namibia

In Namibia, USAID and PEPFAR have provided substantial help in the fight against HIV. USAID programs in Namibia geared toward HIV provide counseling, resources and treatment for Namibians with HIV. This includes pregnant women at risk of passing HIV to their children.

USAID’s efforts have paid off. For 20 years, new HIV and AIDS cases have been on the decline. HIV is the virus that, if left untreated, can develop into AIDS. In 1998, new AIDS cases in Namibia were estimated to be at 22,000. In 2020, there were only an estimated 5,500 new AIDS cases according to UNAIDS, the joint program in the United Nations dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS.

One of the most effective ways to prevent HIV is using condoms during sex. In Namibia, the demand for access to condoms exceeds the supply, which is where USAID comes in. Supplying condoms to Namibians is one prong of the strategy to combat HIV. The most recent update to fighting HIV through USAID programs in Namibia came in early June 2022. USAID donated 6.9 million condoms and 2.6 million bottles of personal lubricant to the country to fight to help prevent the spread of HIV.

Final Thoughts

USAID programs in Namibia have been actively fighting to improve conditions in the southern African country. Direct efforts from USAID, including energy programs through SAEP, have given access to electricity to thousands of Namibians. Healthcare to treat and prevent diseases like HIV and TB have increased living conditions in Namibia, highlighting the need for programs to help Namibians in the fight against poverty and disease.

– Emma Rushworth
Photo: Flickr

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The World Bank’s $2.3 Billion Program in Africa

The World Bank's $2.3 Billion Program in AfricaOn June 21 2022, The World Bank approved a $2.3 billion program aimed at addressing food insecurity in Southern and Eastern African countries in different phases. Due to factors such as market instability, the war in Ukraine and disease outbreaks, “an estimated 66.4 million people” could face food stress and famine by July 2022. The World Bank’s $2.3 billion program in Africa will utilize systems created to tackle food insecurity. The Food Systems Resilience Program for Eastern and Southern Africa (FSRP) will be used to strengthen “inter-agency food crisis response strategies.” This includes “rapid response planning” and “emergency trade measures.”

Alleviating Food Insecurity

The World Bank’s $2.3 billion initiative in Africa highlights the power of international institutions to help vulnerable populations during difficult times. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine, international institutions such as The World Bank have stepped in to alleviate food insecurity in developing countries. In fact, The World Bank’s $2.3 billion program in Africa “is the first regional and multi-sectoral operation” aimed at tackling food insecurity in Eastern and Southern Africa.

The World Bank hopes to achieve that by “ensuring regional coordination” in confronting food insecurity by focusing on food policy reforms and market volatility. In other words, this is a story of how international institutions uphold human rights by cooperating with countries to make sure every person lives a better life.

The Impact of Food Insecurity on People in Southern and Eastern Africa

Food insecurity has had a devastating effect on the livelihood of people living in Africa. For example, 22.7 million people in Ethiopia are struggling with food insecurity “due to drought.” In fact, the food price index in Ethiopia has increased to 43% alongside an increase in the price of vegetable oil and cereals “by over 89% and 37% year-on-year.”

In Madagascar, between 1 and 2.5 million people are in need of food assistance because of weather disasters such as flooding and storms. Thus, The World Bank’s $2.3 billion program in Africa aims to address these crises and mitigate them.

First Phase of the Program

The first phase of The World Bank’s $2.3 billion program in Africa will address food insecurity in Ethiopia and Madagascar. The World Bank has approved “a total financing package of $788 million that could “benefit 2.3 million people,” as reported on its website. This financing package will support the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) “which will strengthen information and data sharing.”

It will also support the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA). This will utilize “its existing networks and outreach tools for regional coordination mechanisms” to help Ethiopia and Madagascar.

Other Efforts to Tackle Food Insecurity in Africa

The World Bank’s $2.3 billion program in Africa is ongoing and more details will be unveiled later. However, more international institutions are also tackling food insecurity in Africa at the same time as The World Bank. For example, since April 1, 2022, The World Food Programme (WFP) “has delivered 100,000 tonnes of food,” to the Tigray region of Ethiopia which was “enough to feed 5.9 million people for a month,” the U.N. News reports. The WFP has also provided emergency food rations to “1.3 million people in Afar and Amhara,” regions of Ethiopia since April 1, 2022.

Though much more aid is needed as global threats persist, The World Bank’s and other international institutions’ efforts in tackling food insecurity in Africa are a step in the right direction.

– Abdullah Dowaihy
Photo: Flickr